Arts, Music & Entertainment
Mar 23, 2026
878
Geo United States
The Hidden Traps of Music Distribution- Part 2
The Two Copyrights You Must Understand
Before you release any song, understand this: every track creates two separate copyrights.
- The first is the musical composition—the lyrics, melody, and underlying structure. This generates performance royalties when your song is played on radio, in venues, or streamed.
- The second is the sound recording (the master)—the actual audio file you upload. This generates neighboring rights royalties. These two can be owned separately. You can own your master while a publisher controls your composition. Many artists sign contracts without realizing which rights they’re giving away.
Whether it’s a feature song or video that will stream on Spotify or YouTube, you as the featuring artist must be aware of what rights you have on it. A split sheet or formal agreement should outline ownership percentages upfront to avoid disputes later.
Know the difference. It’s the foundation of everything that follows.
Next article in this series: Article 3 – What’s Really Happening When Your Track Disappears?
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